The Rundown : New law unlikely to ease Chicago homebuying

Good afternoon ! It’s Monday, and National Pizza Day (not that we need an excuse to eat this comfort food). Here’s what else you need to know today.

1. Wall Street investors are now barred from buying single-family homes. Will that ease homebuying in Chicago ?

Chicagoans may not see much benefit from President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that aims to block institutional investors from buying single-family homes. But experts say those landlords are still a contributing factor to the region’s housing shortage, my colleague Abby Miller reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The order directs government agencies to define institutional investors and set guidelines to prevent the federal government and government-sponsored entities from approving purchases by such investors. It also instructs federal agencies to promote sales to individual owner-occupants through first-look policies, disclosure requirements and anticircumvention measures, according to the White House.

But the order doesn’t block all purchases from institutional buyers, said Frank Manzo, an economist at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. These buyers are often private equity firms that own thousands of homes and rental units, and they typically purchase their properties in cash or through private financing sources.

The order’s impact would also be smaller in Chicago, where the share of homes owned by investors is below the national average. Data from Redfin puts the national share of homes owned by investors at 17% as of third quarter 2025, the most recent data available. In Chicago, that figure is 13%, according to Redfin. [https://www.wbez.org/housing/2026/0... Chicago Sun-Times]

2. Chicago-area Asians were arrested in Trump’s deportation campaign. They kept quiet about it — for a while

Local leaders at organizations serving Asian populations told WBEZ that over the past year, Chicago-area Asians have been picked up at routine immigration check-ins, at airports returning from a trip abroad, in front of homes and schools, outside grocery stores and in rideshare lots near O’Hare International Airport.

More than 140 Asians in Illinois have been arrested during the second Trump administration, according to a WBEZ analysis of data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through a public records request. That makes up about 4% of all immigration-related arrests in Illinois. The majority of Asians arrested were from India, China and Kyrgyzstan.

The numbers only include arrests through Oct. 15, 2025, before the peak of Operation Midway Blitz.

Stigma and a false sense of security have often kept families from speaking publicly about arrests and detentions. Advocates say keeping quiet results in a lack of awareness or organizing around immigration enforcement in Asian communities.

But things have begun to shift in many Chicago-area communities ; groups told WBEZ that residents and business owners have begun requesting more rights trainings and legal workshops. [https://www.wbez.org/immigration/20... WBEZ]

3. Here’s what to know about Illinois gun rights around federal immigration agents

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis is raising questions about the rights and risks of bringing a firearm to a protest or a potential interaction with federal immigration officers.

As my Chicago Sun-Times colleague Nader Issa reports, protesters cannot bring their guns, even if they have a concealed carry license, if it’s a large, planned public demonstration issued a permit by a local government.

But what about situations similar to Pretti’s shooting, when people are monitoring immigration enforcement in neighborhoods or are confronted by a federal agent ? During Operation Midway Blitz, those were daily or near-daily occurrences compared to large protests. Possessing a firearm is legal in those circumstances in Illinois, as long as the owner has a concealed carry license and isn’t in a sensitive, prohibited location.

Meanwhile, if a law enforcement official stops someone and asks if they have a gun, Illinois law requires concealed carry license holders tell the officer they are carrying. [https://www.wbez.org/immigration/20... Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Cardinal Blase Cupich called for the White House to apologize for a racist video depicting the Obamas as primates

In a statement, the Archbishop of Chicago expressed shock and outrage and said only “an unequivocal apology — to the nation and to the persons demeaned — is acceptable.”

“Portraying human beings as animals — less than human — is not new,” Cupich said in the statement. “Our shock is real. So is our outrage.”

Nearly all of the 62-second clip appeared to be from a video alleging deliberate tampering with voting machines in battleground states as the 2020 presidential votes were tallied. At the 60-second mark is a brief scene of two primates, with the Obamas’ smiling faces superimposed on them. [https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2... Chicago Sun-Times]

5. Bad Bunny tapped a Chicago conductor to lead a surprise orchestra in last night’s Super Bowl halftime show

Eagle-eyed Chicago classical-music fans spotted a familiar face during https://www.npr.org/2026/02/09/nx-s... Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show : Giancarlo Guerrero, artistic director and principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival.

Guerrero was among about 700 performers who took part in Bad Bunny’s sprawling performance, which included famed vocalists Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga as well as singers and musicians across a wide range of genres.

“It all came about very, very quickly. My manager got a call from Bad Bunny’s people saying that he had requested me to be part of the show. They wanted a prominent Latino conductor, and I immediately jumped at the idea,” said Guerrero, who was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Costa Rica. [https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/02/... WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times]

The Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl with a suffocating defense, getting revenge against the New England Patriots. [https://www.npr.org/2026/02/08/g-s1... AP]

Here’s what else is happeningGhislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and confidante of Jeffrey Epstein, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions during a U.S. House Oversight Committee deposition. [https://apnews.com/live/donald-trum... AP]The search for “Today Show” co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother entered its second week. [https://www.npr.org/2026/02/09/nx-s... NPR]Chicago Tribune owner Alden Global Capital wants to acquire the publisher of the northwest suburban Daily Herald. [https://chicago.suntimes.com/busine... Chicago Sun-Times]The Chicago Auto Show’s Chi-Town Alley exhibit celebrates the best of the city’s car culture. [https://chicago.suntimes.com/arts-a... Chicago Sun-Times]

Oh, and one more thing …

When playwright Tracy Letts penned “Bug” 30 years ago, it seemed to come when conspiracy theories had become more integrated into mainstream society, WBEZ theater reporter Mike Davis reports.

Letts, who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for writing the play “August : Osage County” and two Tony Awards (for acting and best play), said he grew up in a time when conspiracies were passed person to person “urban legend style.” Then, in the 1990s, as the internet became commercially accessible to households, the spread of information — and misinformation — changed.

“Bug,” now playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, is a chilling tale of paranoia, dissolution and conspiracy. The original Steppenwolf casting of Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood play a couple isolated in an Oklahoma motel who slowly lose their grasp on reality. [https://www.wbez.org/theater-stages... WBEZ]

Tell me something good …

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’m wondering, what is your favorite first-date spot in the Chicago area ?

Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.